Dad was inducted into the United States Army September 30, 1942. His first letter home to his parents was October 4 of that year. Dad was only twenty years old, had never been away from home, and faced, along with his comrads in arms, one of the most daunting conflicts in human history over the next four years. The word "home" to him took on a deeper significance every day during the war, and I believe that this phenomenon has not changed during the past seventy years. Our soldiers stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan are still powerfully moved by the word "home." The letters Dad wrote early in the war show a deep attachment to his Indiana home. Subsequent letters keep that devotion but also show more of the anxiety of that terrible time in our history. JB
